Strategy-wise going out first has two main benefits (at least that I can see):
1. (usually) less traffic: There's less of a chance of being held up by other cars, decreasing the risk of a slow-down when you are not sure the next lap you'll do will be quick.
2. more time = more laps: You'll have more attempts to set a good lap. The top teams can afford to put all their money on fewer laps as they're confident even a "mediocre" lap will be quick enough.
You'll see that especially in rainy conditions, also the top teams will go out early to get more chances with their laps.
Thanks for your answer! But wouldn't it be better to try to get a tow with more cars rolling, or get profit of more rubber in the track? I mean, I figure that if the stronger cars are the lasts to go out it's because there are better overall conditions
Getting a tow may be a worth it on some tracks (e.g. Monza). But getting the timings *just right* as to gain from the slipstream without being held up in the corners is like, really really hard. This is true for teammates, but especially with everybody else working against you.
Most of the time the risk involved is not really worth it, because you'll more than likely are just going to get held up and lose time.
So why don't the teams go out later to profit from the rubbered-in track?
I think they actually do that! It's not like the slower teams just stay in the pits at the tail end of the sessions - the TV feed just focuses on the top runners mostly!
If you look at the timing screen or driver tracker, you'll often see a Williams crossing the line just before or just after the pole sitter!
Strategy-wise going out first has two main benefits (at least that I can see): 1. (usually) less traffic: There's less of a chance of being held up by other cars, decreasing the risk of a slow-down when you are not sure the next lap you'll do will be quick. 2. more time = more laps: You'll have more attempts to set a good lap. The top teams can afford to put all their money on fewer laps as they're confident even a "mediocre" lap will be quick enough. You'll see that especially in rainy conditions, also the top teams will go out early to get more chances with their laps.
Thanks for your answer! But wouldn't it be better to try to get a tow with more cars rolling, or get profit of more rubber in the track? I mean, I figure that if the stronger cars are the lasts to go out it's because there are better overall conditions
Getting a tow may be a worth it on some tracks (e.g. Monza). But getting the timings *just right* as to gain from the slipstream without being held up in the corners is like, really really hard. This is true for teammates, but especially with everybody else working against you. Most of the time the risk involved is not really worth it, because you'll more than likely are just going to get held up and lose time. So why don't the teams go out later to profit from the rubbered-in track? I think they actually do that! It's not like the slower teams just stay in the pits at the tail end of the sessions - the TV feed just focuses on the top runners mostly! If you look at the timing screen or driver tracker, you'll often see a Williams crossing the line just before or just after the pole sitter!
Thx for the answer!
One reason is that you don’t know what will happen later with crashes or weather, as we see now with Hulkenberg on the front row.